Part of the Week — Ethan Steele’s Guzzleine Antifrost Device

Ethan Steele is a sales representative here at MarkForged. He grew up in Massachusetts, went to California and then came back as an adult. He quickly noticed the devices that hold the gas pump handle open just didn't exist in Boston. In the winter, he was miserable standing out in the cold holding the freezing pump.

Ethan looked it up online and discovered it was illegal for gas pumps to automatically pump in Massachusetts. The reasoning is that static electricity could possibly cause an explosion, especially when the air is dry during the winter.

MA came to their senses in January 2015, likely due to the Mythbusters, but very few gas pumps have been updated to include auto-pump technology. Many pumps will never be updated.

Inspiration for the Guzzleine Antifrost Device

"Winter is coming. It'll definitely be freezing out there and it seems crazy to stand out in the cold holding the pump. So I conceived of the Guzzleine Antifrost Device to keep me warm and safe from direwolves - in my car." - Ethan

Ethan designed it in TinkerCAD. It wraps around the pump handle where one would normally squeeze with their hand, using the teeth to grip the soft vinyl gas handle. The tiny cylinder shaped cavity is intended to hold a magnet. Then it'll stick to the top of the fuel filler cavity, picture above, when not in use.

Ethan exported the STL from TinkerCAD and imported it into the MarkForged software. He just clicked print because the build was at the same scale as the TinkerCAD model, with no composite reinforcement, and no supports or brim necessary.

3D Printing the Guzzleine

The Guzzlein is printed in Nylon on a Mark One. He inserted the magnet easily after the 1 hour 6 minute print. Below is a run of four that we printed for a bunch of people in the office. Many of us have encountered the same problem.

"The amazing thing is that a Salesguy with property management experience was able to conceive of the idea, create it in CAD, print it out and use it. Amazingly, it just clicked into place the first time." - Ethan

Here is a shot of the Guzzleine AntiFrost Device stuck to the top of the fuel filler cavity, waiting for a chance to pump some gas. Stay tuned to the MarkForged Twitter and Facebook for action shots of the Guzzleine in action.

Specifications

Guzzleine Antifrost Device: Size 59.44mm x 50mm x 10mm; Estimated Print Time ~1h 6m; Nylon Cost $.89; STL Download; MFP Download

You can also download the Guzzleine on Thingiverse